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Posted on: March 24, 2017

Island Park Man Sentenced to Jail Time for High-Speed Crash That Killed Couple

John Aniano, 27, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated vehicular homicide

MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that an Island Park man was sentenced today to the maximum sentence of 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison for a January 2015 high speed crash that killed two people parked at a traffic light on Sunrise Highway. The NCDA recommended the maximum sentence.

John Aniano, 27, was convicted by a jury on December 21, 2016 of:

Two counts of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony)

Two counts of Vehicular Manslaughter in the 1st Degree (a C felony)

Two counts of Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree (a C felony)

Two counts of Vehicular Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree (a D felony)

Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Drugs (an E felony)

Reckless Driving (an unclassified misdemeanor)

“Sharon Long and John Jones were killed by John Aniano’s extreme recklessness when he drove over 100 MPH through red lights, while high on marijuana and willfully un-medicated for an underlying disorder,” DA Singas said. “This defendant was given exceptional individualized care, attention and treatment and rejected all of it in favor of smoking marijuana and driving in a manner that could have killed many more people on busy Sunrise Highway. Aniano displayed an utter contempt for the lives of the people in his path and Sharon Long and John Jones paid the price.”

DA Singas said that on Jan. 12, 2015, at approximately 8:13 p.m., Aniano was driving his 2004 Mercedes Benz westbound on Sunrise Highway in Lynbrook at upwards of 100 mph in a 30 mph zone. As the defendant approached Denton Avenue, he drove around traffic, onto a shoulder, and through a red light.

Aniano then accelerated westbound and ultimately crashed into the back of a 2005 Toyota Avalon stopped at a red light at Forest Avenue. The Toyota was operated by John Jones, 54, with Sharon Long, 53, in the front passenger seat. The defendant’s vehicle crushed the rear passenger side of the victim’s vehicle, pushing the back passenger seat into the dashboard of the vehicle. The victims’ vehicle was propelled more than 250 feet into the eastbound lanes where it struck the driver’s side of a 2007 Toyota traveling eastbound.

Long suffered catastrophic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Jones was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital where he later died of his injuries. The driver of the 2007 Toyota was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Aniano, who was observed by police as being under the influence of drugs, was arrested at the scene by members of the Lynbrook Police Department. A test of defendant’s blood revealed the presence of Delta 9 – THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.